Archive for Chris Pickering

The mercenary lifestyle has been regularly explored during the last few years. Most notably in the likes of the Mercenaries series, and stunning PC shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The sequel to the ever impressive PC based Far Cry has been ushered down this now...

As far as big American sports go, basketball is the one that’s suffered most when it comes to the gaming world. Outside a few classic titles back in the early-90s, it’s tricky to think of a basketball leaning “must-have” from the last decade....

As a former Pro Evolution Soccer obsessive, this is a little tough to say: Pro Evo 2009 can’t even scrape being called staunchly average. Though the official Champions League license has been nabbed, we’ve lost the majority of the Spanish sides. For...

As far as sporting gaming titles go, it’s little surprise that horse racing has been down at the bottom of the "to do" list. Yet thanks to some fantastic customer support in the Far East, the G1 Jockey series has managed to go from strength to strength,...

All that talk of Crysis literally destroying sub-standard machines trying to run the fantastic shooter proved to be ever-so-slightly over the top. Yes, there still remains to be a base unit built that can run it with all visual options ramped right up...

If you were worried about seeing little more than the latest kits and a few new haircuts, then wipe that damp brow. This year’s FIFA is vastly bigger and better than ever and leaves the previous iterations in the dust. The big draw for many - the real...

The Brothers In Arms series was the perfect accompaniment to the WWII based Call of Duty titles. While the latter was straight action, BIA handed you total control of the chaps on the battlefield. So as well as worrying about your own behind, you had...

You simply can’t avoid the Star Wars phenomenon in modern culture. Even if you’ve managed to shun all the films, you’re well aware of the basic story thanks to a mass of references in various TV shows. And of course the oh-so-hilarious quips from...

For the uninitiated, the world of professional wrestling has changed quite dramatically over the last decade. Of the big three pro wrestling promotions, the "extreme" ECW came to an unfortunate end, as did WCW, leaving only the WWE (originally named the...

As far as EA’s American sporting titles go, the NHL series has always sat firmly in the middle. While the Madden titles have always been mysteriously popular on the consoles, the NBA series is usually the one left firmly on the shelves. Leaving NHL...

Cartoon style boxing titles aren’t anything new. Punch Out, released way back in the 80s was a major hit for Nintendo’s NES console, and I’m sure most of you will fondly remember the Ready 2 Rumble titles of the late-90s/early-00s. After the success...

As gaming concepts go, none seem quite as fun as the idea behind Mercenaries. Namely offering you a huge world to wander around, allowing you to blow whatever you like to smithereens, and get paid a tonne for the privilege. Sweet. As you might have noticed...

So you’re the creator of The Sims. Your games are selling by the truck load, but still you can’t help shaking that feeling that you wanted to do more. You didn’t want to just allow gamers to shape a human avatar. You wanted to give them true god...

Last year’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R was one of the biggest surprises in PC gaming’s recent history. A heavily delayed title, it suddenly sprung onto shelves and proved that the aftermath of Chernobyl could be a fantastic setting for a gaming title. Playing...

Let’s be blunt right from the start: EA haven’t screwed up Tiger Woods 09. Right from the off it’s plainly clear that this is vastly improved over last year’s version. Not just in the addition of a handful of brand new features, but by tweaking...

All PC gamers should be aware of a title by the name of Dungeon Siege. A traditional dungeon crawling RPG at heart, it managed to build on its simplistic point and click style of hack and slash gameplay and be one of the most thoroughly addictive titles...

As gaming series go, none are quite as successful as the Madden NFL titles. Now in their twentieth year, the series has been not only a big seller in the US, but incredibly popular in Europe, despite the somewhat lukewarm reception the sport gets over...

If you’re from the true hardcore gaming fraternity, the name "Bangai-O" is enough to make this one a true must-buy all on its own. For those of you who failed to either import the N64 original, or the Western release on Sega’s sublime Dreamcast, Bangai-O...

Let’s clear one thing up right from the off. If you want to play as Yoda and Darth Vadar, you DON’T need to buy both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Soul Calibur IV. Nope, it transpires that each character is available for download as a piece of...

Everyone has a few fond memories from some of these button bashing sporting titles over the years. From that sub-8 second time in the 100 metre sprint, through to a horrifically long 120 metre thrown in the javelin, these incredible feats of button prodding...

As concepts go, it’s little wonder quite how Guitar Hero: On Tour managed to get past the concept stage. Considering it’s part of the series where the real fun comes from feeling just like your favourite axe wielding star, it’s a bit surprising...

It is little shock to discover a Guitar Hero title based entirely on one particular band. Ever since the first game strode proudly into view, gaming forums have been jam packed with claims of everyone’s favourite bands being the perfect recipient of...

While Sega’s Virtua Tennis series brought lawn tennis back to the gaming masses with its somewhat arcadey representation of the sport, the Top Spin titles have consistently offered much more meat to tuck in to. The only problem is that unlike other...

Like Call of Duty 4, Bad Company is bang up to date. With the trend of WWII-based shooters seemingly on the back burner, Bad Company packs all the firepower you’d expect of a modern soldier. The weaponry here is a hefty chunk more powerful than in most...

Nope, the name isn’t some kind of late April fools joke. The long running strategic epic that is the Civilization series is indeed attempting to make its home on the latest batch of consoles. For the uninitiated, the Civilization series can claim the...